Why
the Buddha Touched the Earth
by
John Stanley & David Loy
The
entire cosmos is a cooperative. The sun, the moon, and the stars live together
as a cooperative. The same is true for humans and animals, trees, and the
Earth. When we realize that the world is a mutual, interdependent, cooperative
enterprise -- then we can build a noble environment. If our lives are not based
on this truth, then we shall perish. --Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
The
term 'engaged Buddhism' was created to restore the true meaning of Buddhism.
Engaged Buddhism is simply Buddhism applied in our daily lives. If it's not
engaged, it can't be called Buddhism. Buddhist practice takes place not only in
monasteries, meditation halls and Buddhist institutes, but in whatever
situation we find ourselves. Engaged Buddhism means the activities of daily
life combined with the practice of mindfulness. --Thich Nhat Hanh
In
one of Buddhism's iconic images, Gautama Buddha sits in meditation with his
left palm upright on his lap, while his right hand touches the earth. Demonic
forces have tried to unseat him, because their king, Mara, claims that place
under the bodhi tree. As they proclaim their leader's powers, Mara demands that
Gautama produce a witness to confirm his spiritual awakening. The Buddha simply
touches the earth with his right hand, and the Earth itself immediately
responds: "I am your witness." Mara and his minions vanish. The
morning star appears in the sky. This moment of supreme enlightenment is the
central experience from which the whole of the Buddhist tradition unfolds.
The
great 20th-century Vedantin sage, Ramana Maharshi said that the Earth is in a
constant state of dhyana (meditative absorption). The Buddha's earth-witness
mudra (hand position) is a beautiful example of "embodied cognition."
His posture and gesture embody unshakeable self-realization. He does not ask
heavenly beings for assistance. Instead, without using any words, the Buddha
calls on the Earth to bear witness.
The
Earth has observed much more than the Buddha's awakening. For the last 3
billion years the Earth has borne witness to the evolution of its innumerable
life-forms, from unicellular creatures to the extraordinary diversity and
complexity of plant and animal life that flourishes today. We not only observe
this multiplicity, we are part of it -- even as our species continues to damage
it. Many biologists predict that half the Earth's plant and animal species
could disappear by the end of this century, on the current growth trajectories
of human population, economy and pollution. This sobering fact reminds us that
global warming is the primary, but not the only, extraordinary ecological
crisis confronting us today.
Has
Mara taken a new form today -- as our own species? Just as Mara claimed the
Buddha's sitting-place as his own, Homo sapiens today claims, in effect, that
the only really important species is itself. All other species have meaning and
value only insofar as they serve our purposes. Indeed, powerful elements of our
economic system (notably Big Oil and its enablers) seem to have relocated to
the state of "zero empathy," a characteristic of psychopathic or narcissistic
personalities.
The
Earth community has a self-emergent, interdependent, cooperative nature. We
humans have no substance or reality that is separate from this community. Thich
Nhat Hanh refers to this as our "inter-being": we and other species
"inter-are." If we base our life and conduct on this truth, we
transcend the notion that Buddhist practice takes place within a religious
framework that promotes only our own individual awakening. We realize the
importance of integrating the practice of mindfulness into the activities of
daily life. And if we really consider Mother Earth as an integral community and
a witness of enlightenment, don't we have a responsibility to protect her
through mindful "sacred activism"?
This
year the U.S. president will determine whether or not to approve a proposed
pipeline, which will extend from the "great American carbon bomb" of
the Alberta Tar Sands to the Texas oil refineries. The implications are
enormous. The devastation that would result from processing and burning even
half the Tar Sands oil is literally incalculable: the resulting increase in
atmospheric carbon would trigger "tipping points" for runaway global
warming. Our most insightful climate scientist, NASA's James Hansen, states
that if this project alone goes ahead, it will be "game over" for the
Earth's climate. This is a challenge we cannot evade. It is crucial for
Buddhists to join forces with other concerned people in creative and resolute
opposition to this potentially fatal new folly.
As
the Buddha's enlightenment reminds us, our awakening too is linked to the
Earth. The Earth bore witness to the Buddha, and now the Earth needs us to bear
witness -- to its dhyana, its steadfastness, the matrix of support it
continually provides for living beings. New types of bodhisattvas --
"ecosattvas" -- are needed, who combine the practice of
self-transformation with devotion to social and ecological transformation. Yes,
we need to write letters and emails to the President, hopefully to influence
his decision. But we may also need to consider other strategies if such appeals
are ignored, such as nonviolent civil disobedience. That's because this
decision isn't just about a financial debt ceiling. This is about the Earth's
carbon ceiling. This is about humanity's survival ceiling. As the Earth is our
witness.
John
Stanley & David Loy direct & advise the Ecobuddhism Project.